


Remedy

by FantasticallyTragical



Series: Remedy [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Antione Triplett Lives, Autism, Dad!Steve, Dad!Tony, Enhanced, Everyone does stupid things, F/M, Family, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Inhumans - Freeform, Lots of awkwardness, Major Original Character(s), Mental Illness, Mentions of Mental Illness, Mutants, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Other, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Parental!everyone, Pietro Lives, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Romance, Slice of Life, Steve is heroic, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Trip Lives, Weird powers, maximoff sibling fluff, oh my!, people accidently fall in love, people die but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-08-30 17:31:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8542345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasticallyTragical/pseuds/FantasticallyTragical
Summary: Sonya King is a psychologist with the ability to feel the pain of others. No biggie, right?But there's more to her story than just some weird powers.Pietro Maximoff has been living life in the fast lane, refusing any backwards glances. He's trying to forget about the fact that he died.Wanda Maximoff had lost everything. She's far more scared of herself than anyone is of her.





	1. In Which We Meet Our Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is the first Chapter of "Remedy"! Hope you enjoy it!

_She felt the crash deep in her gut, felt the airbag explode in her face, the agony of her nose breaking and her arm snapping and her skull being crushed—_

Sonya King jerks up out of sound sleep, squinting in the red and blue lights flashing through her window, the sirens ringing in her ears. Three police cars. Two ambulances. Swinging her legs out of bed, she moves to the window and peers out. On the street, three stories below, a silver Honda Accord has crashed in to the telephone pole at the corner, its fender bent, hood crumpled up like a tin can. She can feel the agony of the driver. A man, middle-aged, drunk. A smashed nose, broken ribs, ruptured lungs, useless arm, skull smashed. He’s dying.

Her suspicions are proven correct when the EMTs pull him out of the wreckage, scurrying around like ants, CPR, bandages, a defibrillator from the ambulance. Sonya can feel him fading. “He’s gone.” She whispers, shuddering at the sudden lack of feeling. The paramedics notice, too, heads bowing, one of them closes the man’s eyes.

She falls back on her bed, feeling a swarm of irrational guilt. “Sorry.” She whispers to her ceiling, knowing it wasn’t her fault, knowing that there was nothing she could have done, but it still hurts. And it’s not like it’s anything NEW, feeling someone die, she’s felt it all before, life hasn't exactly been a cakewalk.

‘ _Just relax.’_ She tells herself, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths.

* * *

 

Her alarm clock wakes her up at six with an extraordinarily rude blast of Fall Out Boy’s _Phoenix_. She silences it with an equally rude punch in the off button, rolling out of bed like a zombie, trailing her way to the shower. The hot water wakes her up, and so does a hot coffee. She stands glaring at herself in the mirror, brushing her teeth vigorously, shaking purple-dyed hair out of her eyes, the result of a spontaneous idea, on her part. Oh, well, it’s pretty, the purple.

“You’re gonna be okay today.” She tells her reflection, buttoning her blouse. “You can do this!” She declares, zipping her boots. “You’re a big girl, now.”

‘ _I’m a fucking idiot.’_ Sonya thinks, glaring in her wallet. She forgot her bus money. Again. It’s gonna have to be the subway, today, since her car is being fixed. She _hates_ the subway, hates the funky smells, the uneven lighting, the crush of people. There's always too much going on, people's colors and sounds and flavors mix and mash unpleasantly, and the fluorescent lights hurt her eyes. The train’s late, too. _‘Isn’t anxiety a lovely thing?’_ She thinks, trying to quell a racing heart and sweaty palms. _‘Please don’t let me have a panic attack.’_ Sonya isn’t sure if it’s a prayer or not, or if God’s even listening, but it’s worth a shot. Her week’s been awful enough already. She focuses on her breathing.

An explosion rips the thoughts out of her mind and she’s flying, landing with a thud. She sits up quickly, blinking spots out of her vision and trying to hear past the ringing in her ears. A masked person with a spooky skull/octopus thing embroidered on his shoulder is walking towards her, and there’s a knife in their hands. Their flavor is a sickening mixture of sour milk and black pepper. She throws up her hands, and the guy suddenly bounces back like he’s hit a rubber mat. There’s a purple bubble around Sonya. _‘When did I learn to do this?’_ She wonders. Evidently she's now Steven Universe. The masked person is up on their feet again, but goes flying spectacularly when a streak of blue zooms past him. There’s a different person standing in front of Sonya, now, shaking blondish-brown hair out of his eyes.

“How did you learn to do that?” He asks. He’s got an accent, Russian maybe? She isn’t sure. His voice is silvery blue and his flavor puts her in mind of lemon zest and spearmint.

“Hogwarts.” She blurts out. The man grins.

“The magic school, yes? Very funny.” He says it sarcastically, but his eyes are laughing. He doesn’t seem to notice a second masked person emerge from the shadows, levelling a gun at his back. Sonya leaps forward and scoops her bubble around her new friend. He jumps in shock at the gunshot and they both whirl to see the person go flying from a red, white, and blue shield to the back of the head.

“Ah.” The blond says. “Here is Steve.”

Steve Rogers steps from the gloom, looking very heroic, an unconscious child in one arm. “Quicksilver.” He says. “You’re supposed to be getting the injured to safety, not flirting." Sonya hears Cap's voice as a rich navy blue, his movements taste like Haralson apples.

Quicksilver (THE Quicksilver) grins wider. “I was not flirting. I was making friends with--!” He turns just as Sonya falls to the ground, suddenly overwhelmed by the pain of all the injured around her. The pain of dozens of broken bones, of hundreds of bruises and cuts, and the inescapable fear of hundreds is assaulting her full force. She shudders as she feels a death quite close. Quicksilver is crouching in front of her, eyes concerned, lips moving, but she can hear him past the ringing in her ears, barely thinking past the pain, unable to function from the pain of hundreds pouring in to her mind. She’s hyperventilating, shaking like a leaf, breaths coming quick and fast, there’s blood on her lips and tears on her cheeks, and she’s trying to focus on the man in front of her, but it’s too much, too much! Oh, God, she wants to die, it hurts. It hurts so much! There’s smoke in her nose and dust in her eyes, and her vision is just blackness, poked through with random pinholes of light, blinding and soothing all at once. She’s screaming in her head. _‘Make it go away! I want to go away! Make it stop! It hurts! I want to die! Please! Somebody! Anybody! Help me!”_ She can’t move though, but she can feel arms beneath her knees and around her shoulders, and someone’s carrying her, fast, and a voice beneath the ringing, quite close, is calling for someone named Wanda.

Reality fades out again and for a time there’s nothing but pain, then there’s a woman’s voice, with Quicksilver’s accent, saying something about pain, then the voice is in her head, and asking her what’s wrong, and all she can do is scream, _‘It hurts! It hurts! Make it stop! Please make it stop!’_

‘ _What hurts?’ Says the voice. ‘You need to tell me, so I can help you.’_

‘ _Everywhere! Everyone!’_ Then there’s nothing.

* * *

 

“Who is she?” Pietro asks. The Maximoff twins are staring through the glass window at the girl, her dark skin and purple hair a riot of color against the whiteness of the hospital.

“Sofiya Elodie King.” Natasha replies, looking at her StarkPad. “Goes by Sonya, Age 19, recently graduated from Cornell, has a degree in Psychology. Never knew her parents and was raised by her aunt Emmaline King. Suffers from an anxiety disorder, chronic depression, and is on the Autism Spectrum.”

“She could feel everyone’s pain.” Wanda whispered. “I could feel it, too, when I was in her mind.” She hugs her arms around herself, shuddering. “It… It was terrible. I can’t imagine what that must be like, when you have no control over it. She can’t make it stop.” Her brother puts his arm around her.

‘ _She really can’t stop it?’_ He thinks at her.

‘ _No. She can’t. She could literally feel the pain and emotions of every single person caught in the explosion.’_

‘ _That’s horrible. Was she experimented on… like… like us?’_

‘ _I’m not sure.’_

“What are we going to do with her?” Steve speaks up. “She doesn’t really know anyone in the city, and she can’t really stay on her own. I mean, the trauma of what she just went through…” He trails off.

“Plus, she can, like, make a force field.” Pietro adds. “You saw, right?”

Steve nods. “Yeah. I saw.”

“Good news!” Tony Stark comes bounding into the waiting room. “I pulled a few strings, and arranged that if she wants, she can come to the Avenger’s Tower and live with us.” He beams around the circle, flashing a thumb’s up.

“How did you manage that?” Steve wonders. "And what about her aunt?"

“Like I said, I pulled a few strings!” Tony answers. 

“You exploited people, again?” Cap sighs.

“I’m offended you would even think that, Steven.” Iron Man sniffs haughtily. “It was all very legal. Her aunt is in the Netherlands. She won't be able to return until next week, due to weather. I actually know her boss. She works for a medical engineering company, the aunt, I mean, Stark Industries gave them some money."

"What company?" The twins glance up, Pietro swinging his legs, Wanda's face serious. 

“I’m still suspicious,” Steve chimes in.

“He’s telling the truth.” Pepper Potts enters the room.

Tony points at her. “Yes. Thank you, Pepper.”

"Her aunt, Emmaline King, is the CEO of KinetoCorps. You may have heard of them, they are a famous medical engineering company, as Tony said." She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "Sonya is practically a genius, graduated high school at thirteen and med school early at seventeen. A double PhD in Psychology and Biomedical Engineering. Fluent in four languages, she's been on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar since before the whole Hydra fiasco. She was offered a position at SciOps and the Academy, but turned it down."

"Nice." Sam nods, impressed, glancing up from a file. "Her IQ is around 190."

"So, we're just gonna adopt her?" Wanda muses, giving her brother a confused glance. The two of them weren't quite used to the Team's tendency to pick up strays. "Like, we're keeping her?"

"We kept you," Sam quips, smiling to show he was joking.

"Rude." Pietro flops back. "But okay."


	2. In Which Things Are Confusing for Our Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If people were wondering, Sonya is autistic and has synesthesia, which is a mental condition that sort of mixes senses together, such as seeing sounds or tasting feelings...

 

 

Sonya wakes up with the worst headache she has ever had. It feels rather like a tiny, angry man is running around inside her head, whacking her skull with a disproportionately large hammer. “Fuck you, tiny angry man," she hissses.

“What?” The voice that breaks into her revery is navy blue.

Sonya whirls to see Steve Rogers giving her a rather concerned look. His flavor seems sweeter to day, less tart. THE Steve Rogers, Captain fucking America, is in her hospital room. They blink at each other for a moment, then Sonya says, “I swear I’m not crazy.” She points at her head. “Headache. Feels like a tiny, angry man is trying to smash his way out of my skull.”

“Oh.”

“You’re Captain America.”

“Yes, I am.”

“You hit a guy in a balaclava in the subway. Very harshly. With a shield.”

“I hit several guys in balaclavas in the subway.”

“When was that? Yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

Sonya frowns. “Not to be rude, or anything, but… why are you in my hospital room? And how did I get here? And where's my aunt for that measure? And why where there balaclava clad people in the subway? What happened, exactly? It’s all very hazy.”

“They were members of Hydra, targeting New York. They set a bomb off in the subway. The Avengers were deployed to bring them in. You were caught up in the attack, produced a force field of sorts, had a break down, and had to go to the hospital.”

“Yeah, okay, I kind of remember that, but why are you in my hospital room?”

“We were concerned, and you have an ability we didn’t think was possible. It’s kind of my job.”

“Your job is to sit in hospital rooms of attack victims? I feel like you would spend a lot of time in the hospital. Also, can I call my aunt?"

“No, my job is to make sure people like you… and me… are safe.”

“Also hit people in balaclavas?”

“Also hit people in balaclavas.”

Sonya frowns. “Can I use a phone?”

Captain America jumps, then points to the nightstand next to her bed. "We found your backpack... Everything should be in there. We've already located your aunt."

Sonya sighs and pulls her backpack on to her lap, rifling through it until she finds her phone. 

 

* * *

 

Emmy answers on the second ring. Sonya is nearly deafened by her aunt as the older woman frets into the phone. 

 _"You're okay, baby? Not badly hurt? I knew I shouldn't have left for so long!"_ The older woman's voice is usually a cool lavender, but stress is giving it odd folds of yellow.

"I'm fine, Em," Sonya assures her aunt, "Except it appears everyone and their mother knows about my powers. Which is unfortunate. What should I do? I'll be released soon anyhow, but should I go home or...?"

_"Tony Stark offered you a place to stay."_

"Say what now?"

_"Due to your connection with SHIELD, they've offered you a temporary position as team psychologist to the Avengers. You'll be safe until I come home on the fifth. They think it's best to keep you protected until they are sure this most recent threat is neutralized."_

"How do you know this much about the government? And is it safe to just chat about this on the phone? I feel like this is breaking some kind of law."

 _"This is a private line, baby. You know that. I work for the government, Sonechka, I know what I'm doing."_ The lavender spikes rapidly with confidence, but the yellow stress is still there.

"Since when?" Sonya splutters, glaring at Steve Rogers as if it's his fault. The Captain looks confused.

_"That's a conversation to be held in person. I think you should take Tony's advice..."_

"Oh, so we're now on first name terms with Iron Man?" 

_"Don't talk back."_

"EM!"

 _"I promise I'll tell you everything when I get home. After you are released, go home and activate the security code or stay at the Avengers tower. Understand?"_ Emmeline's voice takes on a no-nonsense attitude. 

"I...uh... Emmy?"

_"What are you gonna do? Home or Tower?"_

"Home."

_"Okay. Stay safe. I love you, and I'll talk to you later. Bye."_

"Em, wait!" But there was only dialtone. Sonya hangs up her phone ferociously (which isn't actually that impressive since it's a touchscreen) and glares at Captain America. "I am very confused," She snarls, "And I hope you have explanations."

"I don't."

Sonya's face crumples, "oh." She tugs her knees up to her chest. "My aunt evidently works for the government. I thought she was a CEO."

"Oh."

"Everyone knew this but me?!"

"I didn't even know she existed.'

"Fair enough."

Steve helps Sonya devise a plan for returning home. He seems focused and also refuses to answer any of her questions about why everyone suddenly seems so intent on her safety. The girl finds it increasingly annoying as time drags on, and soon finds herself overcome with irritability. The fact that Steve (as he insisted on being called) was so unflappable was really ticking her off. It takes him a few short answers and several exasperated huffs for him to finally realize something's wrong, but he doesn't quite get it until Sonya flings out her arms and lets out a strangled scream of annoyance. 

"I need to think about something else!" She splutters, all composure vanishing in the face of mental exhaustion and stress. "I just want to go  _home_!" She's tearing up by now, and grabs her backpack. She digs around until she pulls out a mini elephant stuffed animal and presses it to her face, breathing heavily. Steve may not be good at dealing with ASD, but he knows what a panic attack looks like (and feels like), and immediately drops the subject. 

"Okay," he agrees, rubbing her back, "we won't talk about this anymore."

* * *

 

He stays with her and rubs her back and talks idly about nothing, until her sobs subside. "Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat?"

She nods, sitting back up and rubbing her face on her elephant. "Yeah. But not hospital food." She makes a face. "I hate hospital food."

Steve laughs at her expression. "Same. I'll call the twins and have them pick up take out. Anything specific you want?"

"I have a hankering for a burger. Is there a Culver's around here?"

"You bet," Steve grins as he dials. "What do you want? Oh, hey, Wanda. Are you guys on your way over? Cool. Can you make a stop at Culver's and bring me an order of 3-no-4 butterburgers, 2 large fries and a large coke? And..." He places his hand over the mouthpiece and glances at Sonya.

"I'll have a butterburger, too, with a large fry and a large Sprite."

He nods and repeats his order into the phone, says good-bye, and hangs up. "They'll be here in about half an hour."

* * *

"We come bearing gifts!" Quicksilver kicks open the door to Sonya's room, his arms loaded down with innumerable Culver's bags, beaming like a maniac, the blue in his voice is brighter today and the lemon in his flavor is a little sweeter. His sister follows at a much more sensible pace carrying the drinks. Her flavor is nutmeg and cinnamon. Sonya is sitting up cross-legged, which allows the twins to dump all of their stuff down on the mattress. Pietro plops down in a chair next to Sonya. "Pietro Maximoff," he blurts, handing her a Culver's bag one second and chowing down on a burger the next. "We've met."

"I'm Wanda." His sister says, slathering ketchup over her fries. Her voice is as red as her brother's is blue, bright, scarlet red.

Sonya freezes mid-chew. She gapes at Wanda before swallowing hurriedly and blurting. "Hey! You were the voice in my head! Back at the subway!"

"Yeah. That was me." The other girl smiles. "I hope you're feeling better."

"Yeah. I am. I dunno what you did, but it's easier to block people out, now." Sonya grins and deftly smacks away Pietro's hand which is inching near her fries. "Thanks a ton."

Pietro leans over her and grabs one of his sister's cheese curds, having decided that the other girl's food was off-limits. "You've got some pretty cool powers," he says. 

"Thanks," Sonya replies, "but the force-field was a new development. Makes me feel rather like Steven Universe."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind."

Sonya and the twins hit it off pretty well. Sonya seems to hop from subject to subject as quickly as Pietro, and Wanda enjoys spending time with another girl around her age.

* * *

"Nice house," Pietro leans over his sister to grin out at Sonya's home as the car pulls up to a study-looking brownstone. Sonya's aunt lives about an hour outside of Queens in a small suburb. According to the aforementioned woman (and Steve and Tony Stark) Sonya's possessions had already been moved out of her apartment and back to her original home.

"Are you annoyed that you just got pretty much kicked out of your home?" Pietro muses, with as little tact as usual, earning him a jab in the stomach from his sister.

"Not really," Sonya replies, "I just wish people would explain what's going on." She turns a pointed glare at Steve, who shrugs apologetically. Taking the hint, she sighs gustily and step out of the car. "I hope the guys from Stark Industries didn't let my aunt's cat out."

"Of course they didn't." Tony Stark steps out of a yellow sportscar that seems to have materialized out of thin air. He adjusts his sunglasses as he peers up at the house. "Not really my style. But whatever floats Emmy's boat." Sonya smiles a little at his flavor, champagne and pear juice. His voice is a yellow gold.

"Great." Sonya sighs. "Does everyone know my aunt but me?"

"The twins don't." Tony shoots her a grin. "Lighten up, doc. We're gonna be great friends." He ruffles her purple curls. "I can feel it." 

She can't help but return his smile, drawn to his exuberance. "Come on, then." She says, leading the way to the front door, hitching her backpack up on her shoulder. "Em said she'd be home by 2 o'clock."

She pushes the door open and steps into an airy foyer, disabling the security system with a wave of her hand. "You can take off your shoes if you want," she says, dumping her backpack on a bench by the door and kicking off her combat boots. "The kitchen is to the left. I'm gonna go change. Help yourself to whatever you want." With that she vanishes up the stairs. 

Tony strolls through the house with an unmistakable air of someone who's been there before, helping himself to a beer from the fridge, and lightly patting the head of the tabby cat who comes to investigate. The other three loiter around uncomfortably, Steve eyeing some framed photos on top of a white painted piano, Wanda crouching down to pet the cat and Pietro flipping through a book on the coffee table.

Sonya returns about 10 minutes later, clad in jeans and a Hufflepuff sweatshirt. "That's my mom and dad," she informs Steve, pointing to a photo of an Asian-American woman standing hand in hand with a African-American man. The two of them were grinning widely. 

"You look like your dad," Steve begins. "But..."

"But I have my mom's eyes and chin," Sonya finishes. "Yeah. I know."

"Like Harry Potter!" Pietro calls, grinning. He reaches around Sonya and presses the piano's keys, making a discordant clang. "Does your aunt play?"

"No. I do, though." She points to a picture of a little Sonya, maybe 5 or 6, sitting at this very same piano. "See?"

"Cute." Wanda smiles.

The front door swings open just then. "TONY STARK!" A woman's voice roars, lavender spiked through with neon green. "YOU'VE PARKED YOUR STUPID SPORTSCAR IN THE WAY! AGAIN!"

"That's my aunt," Sonya states.


	3. In Which Questions are Answered

Tony nearly jumps out of his skin. A woman around sixty with dark skin and iron gray hair twisted up in a severe bun strolls into the kitchen. Emmeline King isn't much taller than her niece, and thus she barely reaches his shoulder, but she has a ferocity that is lacking in the younger woman. Sonya legs out a squeak as her aunt pulls her into a tight hug. Despite all of her ferocity, Emmy's flavor is honey and cloves, deceptively mellow and sweet.

“I'm so glad you're okay,” Emmy says, brushing Sonya's hair out of her eyes with an affectionate gesture.

“Yeah,” Sonya shrugs, “but I'm very confused. You said you'd answer my questions.”

“Yes, I did.” The older woman squeezes her niece’s hand. “Why don't we all have something to drink and talk about this situation, okay?”

The proposal is met with murmurs of agreement, so Emmy hurries to the kitchen and fires up the coffee machine, pulls out a few cans of Dr. Pepper, and unearths a stash of Chips Ahoy.

“They're the soft kind,” Pietro cheers, grabbing a handful, “awesome.” his sister shoots him a warning look but he just smirks at her.

Emmy ushers everyone to the kitchen sits them all down.

“Sonya, I never really told you about what I did before I gained guardianship of you,” she begins, curling her legs up under her. “Before your mom died, I worked for SHIELD. When you came to me, I quit. It's as simple as that.”

Her niece frowns. “What about when SHIELD was infiltrated? How were you not caught up in that?”

“Well,” Emmy grins, “by 'quit’ I mean I completely erased myself from SHIELD’s files. Tony helped. A little plastic surgery and a move from D.C. to New York City and I was ready to take you in.”

“So you cut off all contact?”

“It wasn't hard.” Emmy shrugs nonchalantly, “my relationship with the other agents was strictly professional. You don't have time for friends in that line of work.”

Sonya stares at her aunt with astonishment.

“Don't look so sad,” the older woman chuckles, taking her niece’s hand. “I'm not a very friendly person.”

“I think you're friendly.”

“You're family, baby,  you're required to think that.”

Sonya rolls her eyes and laughs.

“Hey,” Pietro blurts, “why were you so concerned about no one finding out about Sonya?”

“I didn't want her to be targeted,” Emmy replies, “I also had a suspicion she might be a mutant.”

“But you didn't call the X-Men?” Steve inquires, looking confused. “That seems like it would be a logical choice.”

“I don't get along well with Charles Xavier.”

“Why did you think I'd be a mutant?” Sonya asks.

Emmy shrugs, “well, my mom, your grandma, was. These things tend to skip generations.”

“Okay,” the purple haired girl seems to accept the explanations. “One last question.”

“Shoot.”

“What was Hydra doing in the subway and why are you all concerned about that, besides the obvious reasons.”

“Hydra shouldn’t exist anymore,” Steve says bluntly. “We eradicated them before the whole Ultron fiasco.”

“So that means…”

“That means that we were wrong and whoever orchestrated the attack last week wasn’t Hydra at all. They were trying to throw us off.”

“What would they gain from attacking New York City in the middle of April?” Sonya crosses her arms and bites her lip. “It seems pointless. If I wanted to strike fear into people, I’d attack around the holiday season, when people are shopping and traveling.”

“We don’t know. It could be a diversion tactic.”

Tony’s phone beeps. “Ah, sorry,” He says, glancing at it. “It’s Natasha. She wants us back.”

Steve nods. “I guess we better take our leave.”

* * *

 

As the door swings shut behind the Avengers, Emmy turns to look at her niece. “What do you want for dinner?”

“Can we just get takeout?” Sonya still looks a little disgruntled. “Chinese?”

Sensing the younger woman’s desire to be alone with her thoughts, Emmy nods. “Yeah. What do you want? I’ll go pick it up.”

“Orange chicken and cheese wontons and eggrolls and fried rice.”

“Got it.” Emmy snatches her keys from off the counter. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Bye.” Sonya waits until her aunt pulls out of the driveway before she hurries up the stairs to her bedroom. She’d only stopped in briefly to grab some clean clothes earlier. The room looks exactly the same as it was when she moved out, the walls still a pale lavender, the double bed covered with a familiar white and purple bed set. Her bags are piled near the closet door and the furniture she had taken with her to college had been returned to their places. Sonya empties out her backpack, tossing her stuffed elephant on to the bed and placing her laptop and phone on her desk. She then busies herself with returning her clothing to her closet and dresser until she hears her aunt return.

Emmy calls for her, but Sonya waits until the older woman climbs the stairs and knocks on her bedroom door.

“Come in,” Sonya calls.

Emmy nudges the door open with her foot and hands her niece a plate of food, setting down a can of Mountain Dew on the bedside table. “Do you want to talk about anything?”

Sonya shakes her head and Emmy nods.

“Okay. I’ll be downstairs finishing up some work. Call if you need anything.” She shuts the door behind her as she leaves. Sonya picks up her chopsticks and begins to eat, plopping herself down on her desk chair and glancing out the window. It’s taking her a bit to process everything. Her aunt was a former SHIELD agent who was on first name terms with Tony Stark of all people. Sonya briefly wonders if Emmy has killed anyone, before deciding against pursuing that particular topic. She finishes up her meal and heads downstairs to take care of her plate. Emmy is sitting curled on the couch, her computer on her lap. She glances up when her niece enters. Her gray hair is down out of her bun, stickiing up in flyaway curls.

“Hey.”

Sonya shoots her aunt a tired smile. “Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Tired. A little confused.”

Emmy nods. “I understand.” She sets her laptop on the coffee table and pats the space next to her. “C’mere.”

Sonya plops down next to her and leans against the older woman’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you all of this beforehand.” Emmy sighs, brushing a hand through Sonya’s curls. “I was hoping it would never come to this. I just wanted to protect you.”

“That’s no excuse,” Sonya snaps, stiffening and pulling away.

“I know, I know. I’m not trying to make excuses. I’m just expressing how I feel.”

“I know,” She leans away and tugs on a curl. “It’s not _fair_!”

“It’s not. Can you tell me what you’re feeling right now?”

“I don’t know!” Sonya exclaims, stamping her foot to express her frustration. Her face is heating up and her heart is racing.

“Can you try?” Emmy’s calming voice helps to ground her.

Sonya bites her lip and rubs her eyes with the heel of her hand. “I’m scared. And mad. But mostly scared.”

Her aunt pulls her into a hug. “I understand. But don’t worry. I swear I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Sonya smiles weakly and rests her head on Emmy’s shoulder, returning the hug. “Thanks.” Her voice hitches and she blinks back tears.

“It’s okay.” The older woman whispers. “You can cry. It’s okay. I promise.”

Sonya goes to bed early that night and sleeps deeply.

* * *

 

Emmy has left for work by the time Sonya awakens. The girl finds a note taped to the fridge and barely skims it before setting to the task of making waffles. She’s halfway through making the batter when the doorbell rings. She hurries to the front door, tugging on a sweatshirt before opening the door. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff are standing on the front step, both of them looking ridiculously pleased with themselves.

“Hi!”

“Uh…. hi?” Sonya steps back and waves them in. “What are you two doing here?”

“We came to visit,” Pietro replies.

“Oh.” Sonya shrugs. “Okay. I’m making waffles. Want some?”

“Pietro’s really good at making waffles,” Wanda grins. Her brother nods. “Why don’t you go get dressed, and we can talk while he slaves away.”

Sonya glances down at her pajamas, before linking arms with Wanda. “Okay. The stuff is already out.” Pietro shoots her a thumbs up as the girls escape up the stairs.

Wanda plops down on the bed while Sonya digs through her closet. “You have a lot of books.” The Scarlet Witch grins at the other girl’s three bookshelves.

Sonya nods. “I like to read.”

“Have you read all of these?”

“Yep.”

Sonya pops into the bathroom as Wanda moves over to the bookshelf. She spots the whole _Harry Potter_ series, the entire _Chronicles of Narnia_ , and _Space Trilogy_ , _The Lord of the Rings_ , _The Hobbit_ , and _The Silmarillion_.

“Do you read a lot?” Sonya asks Wanda.

“When I have time.”

* * *

 

Pietro has made an inhuman amount of waffles by the time the girls return to the kitchen. He's leaning against the counter and eating when they walk in.

“This is a lot of waffles,” Sonya observes needlessly, grabbing a plate and the syrup. “How many did you _make_?!”

Pietro shrugs, taking another bite. “I don't know. 50, I think.”

“Where are they all, then?” Wanda challenges.

“I eat fast.” He winks at Sonya, who rolls her eyes.

"You're incorrigible," she mumbles, suddenly, she stumbles and gasps, grabbing the edge of the table as her legs buckle. The twins are are at her side in moments.

“Sonya! What’s wrong?” Wanda cries, “what’s going on?”

The other girl is shaking , her eyes wide and bloodshot. “S-someone… Emmy… S-she’s… Oh God, no. Emmy! Auntie, please!” She pitches forward, Pietro catches her before she hits the ground. He glances down at her, then turns his attention to his sister.

“She’s unconscious.”


	4. Last One Standing

Emmeline King’s funeral is very small. Sonya is surrounded by her aunt’s friends and family, most of them people she barely knows. Her Uncle Leon, Emmeline’s oldest brother, takes care of the affairs.

Sonya is still too shocked to do anything but sit there. They told her that Emmy died right away, that the crash broke her neck, but Sonya knows better. She remembers the pain her aunt felt. Leon is a year or two older than Emmy was. He is very kind to Sonya, who wonders why she barely knows him.

On returning home, she notes that the house looks cold and empty, but is surprised to see a light on in the living room. Cautiously, she cracks the door open, it flies the rest of the way as Wanda yanks it open and throws her arms around Sonya. She stiffens, unused to being hugged at turbo speed, because Pietro throws his arms around both of them.

“I’m so sorry,” Wanda says, her voice breaking. “I’m so, so sorry. Tony said we shouldn’t go to the funeral. He said it would attract unwanted attention.”

“Honestly, that was the first time I’ve ever known Stark to _avoid_ attention,” Pietro quips. “It was strange.”

Wanda shoots her brother a look, but Sonya giggles softly. The speedster seems gratified by her response. “See, Wanda,” he smirks, “Sonya thinks I’m funny!”

“You are being ridiculous.”

“Hmph.”

“Are you guys gonna stand there in the doorway all day?” Tony Stark pops his head around the door to the living room. His face softens at the sight of Sonya’s bloodshot eyes. “Hey, doc. I’m sorry about Emmy. She was a good person.”

“I have also never heard Stark apologize about anything,” Pietro smirks.

“Oh, shut up, Roadrunner,” Tony scoffs. He whirls around with dignity and leads the way into the living room. It’s empty except for Steve, who’s sitting on the couch. He gets up when they enter, expressing his condolences.

“Thanks, guys,” Sonya smiles. “But how did you get in?”

“Back door,” Pietro says nonchalantly. “Wanda unlocked it.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Why are you here?”

“To comfort-” Wanda begins.

“To ask if you want to come live at the Tower!” Pietro interrupts, grinning. Sonya stares at him.

“What?”

“You don’t have to. But you can. If you want.”

“We want to make sure that you’re safe,” Steve explains.

“I barely know you guys.”

“You'd get to meet Black Widow.” Wanda wheedles, “and we aren't going to _eat_ you. Please come!”

Sonya bites her lip and runs a hand through her hair. “Uh…”

“You’ll be able to keep all your stuff,” Pietro continues. “It'll be really fun. And you wouldn't even have to move all your stuff, Stark could hire someone to do it for you,” he glances at Tony. “Right?”

The older man nods, his eyes fixed on Sonya.

“See? It'll be a breeze!”

“It'll be awesome to have another girl on the team! Natasha is nice, but the two of us can't really balance things out.”

“You'd be welcome. Especially if you can cook better than the robot.”

“Pietro, don't be mean.”

“Wanda likes him. I know.”

“PIETRO! I do _not_!”

“Don’t worry Wanda, denial is only a river in Egypt!”

“Oh my God.”

“Even Captain America hates your puns, brother.”

“Hey!” Tony raises his voice to be heard over the clamor. “Cut it out!” He puts his arm around Sonya. The girl is tugging at her hair. “You too, doc,” he says, “or you'll pull out all your hair.” At his prompting, she moves her hands. “You don't have to make a decision right away, okay? We just wanted you to know that we’ll be looking out for you.”

“Thanks.”

Sonya promises she’ll think about their offer and they leave soon afterwards. She wanders through the enough house and finds herself in her aunt's bedroom. The next thing she knows, she's sobbing. Sonya curls herself up on the bed and cries harder than she has in a long, long time. She cries for her aunt and for herself, because she's angry and sad and scared. She's so, so scared. She doesn't know what will happen next, if the people who hurt her aunt will come after her, too, because she _knows_ Emmy didn't die in a car crash.

* * *

 

The twins make a point to stop by Sonya's house to visit every day. They eventually meet her uncle Leon just as he's leaving, prompting a stuttered explanation as to why they appeared from seemingly nowhere. Luckily, the old man is very short-sighted and pretty much deaf.

“Have you left the house at all?” Wanda asks, giving Sonya a concerned look. The other girl shrugs noncommittally. The twins glance at each other.

“Come to the cinema with us!” Pietro exclaims, face brightening. “We’re gonna watch that new Star Wars movie. Or maybe the Batman one. I've heard it's awful.”

“I guess,” Sonya says. “Just let me go get my backpack.” She returns to the living room to see the twins debating how Pietro would be able to carry both girls. She laughs, snatching her keys from the kitchen table. “Guys, we can just drive.”

“Shotgun!” Pietro yells, whirling around.

“Dammit,” Wanda mumbles.

Sonya’s car is a black Jeep Patriot.

“This isn't a very environmentally conscious vehicle,” Wanda quips, swinging herself into the cluttered backseat.

“Four wheel drive,” Sonya replies as she pulls out of the driveway.

“Hey, Sonya,” Pietro says, glancing in the rearview mirror, “do you know anyone who drives a black Ferrari?”

“No, why?”

“Because I think we’re being followed.” Sonya shoots him a look as Wanda turns around in her seat to glance behind them. “Turn up here.” Pietro says calmly, “go around the block. If they're still there, we’ll know for sure.” She nods and merged into the turn lane. After two left turns, Wanda finally speaks up.

“They're still following.”

“Do you know any short cuts coming up?” Pietro asks, glancing back as well, “we might be able to throw them off.”

Sonya nods shakily. “This is gonna be super illegal.” She turns on her left blinker, glances both ways, and takes a right into an alley. Pietro raises an eyebrow.

“I've done worse.”

“That's not something to be proud of!” His sister exclaims, shaking her head as Sonya mumbles,

"He's incorrigible."

Sonya turns onto a busier road. A black SUV suddenly roars out of a side street and sticks itself behind her.

“This isn't good.”

Pietro glances back at the SUV, then at Sonya. Her grip on the steering wheel has tightened, her knuckles whitening. He reaches out and squeezes her shoulder.

“Wanda, do you think you can…?” His sister nods, red energy already swirling around her hands. He isn't sure what she's about to do, but he hopes it won't be too explosive. “Sonya, make a turn as soon as you can.”

Just as she does, a second SUV jumps the median and barrels towards them. Sonya screams.

What happens next is very loud and jarring, she's pulled out of her seat and thrown backwards and someone comes tumbling down on top of her and she throws out her hands and she's surrounded by purple light. Everything is screeching metal and rubber skidding on asphalt and a jarring deep in her bones for a forever. Then, everything just… stops…

She is alive. Sonya can feel her heart beating. Someone's halfway on top of her and someone else is pressed against her side. Her head and shoulders are under someone's torso. Her eyes are clamped shut, but there's a reddish, purpleish light shining through.

The person who is mostly on top of her moves, and their grip around her shoulders loosens.

“How long can you keep this shield up?” Pietro asks, helping her upright. He was the one halfway on top of her, Wanda is pressed against her back. Sonya’s hands are spread, and they're surrounded by her purple bubble.

“I don't know,” she says. They're crouched in the middle seat of her very ruined jeep. “These Steven Universe powers really come in handy.”

“We need to get out of here.” Wanda turns towards her brother and Sonya. “I can hold them off until we get out of the car. I'll get us out, Pietro, get Sonya somewhere safe.”

“We can't just leave you here!” Sonya cries at the same time Pietro blurts,

“I'm not leaving you.”

“I can handle this.”

“Last time you said that, I died, you know.”

“You were dead?”

“That is a story for another time.”

Gunshots explode around them. Sonya yelps and throws her hands out, the purple shield around them expanding. Pietro peers out one of the shattered windows.

“That's a lot of bad guys,” he says calmly. “Are you _sure_ you can handle this, Wanda?”

His sister rolls her eyes. “Obviously. Which one of us defeated Ultron?”

“That doesn't count! I was dead!”

“C-can you guys stop?” Sonya has her teeth clamped down on her lip, her eyes wide. “I can't hold this bubble much longer.”

The twins instantly stop arguing.

“I'll take her to the tower,” Pietro says. “You're _sure_ you'll be all right?”

Wanda nods determinedly. “Yes.”

“Okay. You ready, Sonya? Things are going to get chaotic.”

“As ready as I'll ever be.”

“Good. On three, Wanda will knock the side off the car and I'll get you girls out. Sonya, don't drop your shield quite yet.”

The following moments _are_ chaotic, but despite the little she actually fully comprehends, Sonya decides the three of them make a pretty good team. The next thing she knows, Pietro is beating through the front doors of Stark Tower and she's being practically thrown into the arms of the Tower’s owner and Pietro is whirling out again.

“What in the world?” Tony stares after him with a baffled look, then glances down at Sonya. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding. What happened?”

Sonya blinks dazedly, her hand dabbing at the cut on her cheek. She’s about to explain when the twins come bursting in.

“50 seconds.” Pietro says, glancing at his watch.

“What’s going on?” Tony demands, sitting Sonya down on the sofa and glaring at the twins.

“We were attacked. Wanda got rid of most of them. No one was hurt and we got the police, but the perps got away,” Pietro rattles out the explanation at top speed as he swipes food from the kitchen and stuffs his face.

“Do you have any idea _why_ you were attacked?” Tony crosses his arms and shoots the speedster a sobering look.

“They didn’t know we’d be there,” Wanda puts in. She has taken a seat next to Sonya, her arm around her friend. “They weren’t after me and Pietro.”

“They were after me,” Sonya whispers. “Emmy didn’t die in a car crash. She was killed.”


	5. In Which Villains are Unmasked

_“They were after me,” Sonya whispers. “Emmy didn't die in a car crash. She was killed.”_

The twins and Tony turn to stare at her. She’s speaking with surprising composure, her face blank. “They killed my aunt.”

“Sonya, you can’t be sure…” Tony starts.

“Yes, I can,” She interrupts him, her voice a mixture of angry conviction and fear. “I know. I know what it feels like when someone dies in a car crash. It-it’s faster than that. I know, okay? I know.”

“Sonya,” Wanda tightens her hug around the other girl. “You don’t have to-”

Sonya jerks away from her. “Don’t! Don’t _touch_ me!” She’s shaking, her teeth chattering like a jackhammer. “D-don’t t-touch me.” She scoots back against the wall, tugging her sweatshirt up over her face and curling up in the fetal position. She wants to run, to hide. Her heart is racing , her teeth chattering. Wanda, good, loving Wanda, reaches for her, but Sonya doesn't want to be touched. She kicks out, screaming, sobbing, terrified. Faintly, beyond the ringing in her ears, she hears Pietro suggest the leave her alone, Tony frantically asking for an explanation, FRIDAY’s clipped, professional voice saying something about meltdowns and over-stimulation and autism.

Sonya doesn’t care. She’s crying, hard. Sobs tearing out of her, loud, animalistic, painful. She’s curled in on herself, rocking back and forth. She wants her aunt, she wants her mom, she wants to be safe. She’s screaming. Out loud? In her head? She doesn’t know. Her hands are yanking at her hair. _It’s too bright, too loud, too much! TOO MUCH, TOO MUCH, TOO MUCH. STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP, STOP, STOP_ **_STOP_ ** _!!!!! She’s scared…_

 **_I’m_ ** _scared! STOP IT! STOP IT! MAKE IT STOP, JUST MAKE IT STOP! THIS IS TOO MUCH! I CAN’T DO THIS! I’M SCARED! I’M SO SCARED! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT_ **_STOP IT!!!!!_ **

Then, it’s all gone. The emotions exploding inside her have calmed. The lights have dimmed. Her body stills. Someone tucks a blanket around her, one that smells like wool and strange laundry detergent. It’s comforting, and it steadies her. Sobs still tug at her throat, but a red voice says something to her and a hand smooths over her curls. “It’s okay, you’re safe. I promise.”

“Don’t go.” Sonya doesn’t want to be alone, she doesn’t want to be abandoned.

“I won’t.”

* * *

 

The first thing Sonya notices when she awakens is that she’s no longer laying on the floor. Someone had picked her up and placed her on the couch. She can feel the back against her side. She doesn’t open her eyes right away, instead, she listens to a quiet conversation off to her left between Tony’s golden voice and Steve’s navy blue one, the colors swirling behind her eyes. They’re discussing the attack.

“...they must have someone watching her…” Tony is saying. Steve makes a noise of agreement.

“According to Wanda, the other trucks seemed to be placed in certain areas, like they were waiting for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if the house is bugged.”

“And if Emmeline really was…” Tony pauses. “...murdered…. They would have to know her patterns and such.”

“So they’ve been watching for awhile.”

“But how did Emmy not notice that? She is-was- a SHEILD agent, and a good one. Do you think she…”

“No. I didn’t know her, but no. Emmy wasn’t involved. I’m sure of that much.”

Sonya bites her lip. Tony’s doubtful voice had struck a nerve. She wondered. What if…. No. She shakes her head and sits up. No way.

The men turn around when she moves, offering smiles. Tony trots over and ruffles her curls. “Glad you’re feeling better, doc,” he says. “You hungry?”

Sonya shakes her head. “No, thanks. I should get home. Uncle Leon must be worried.”

Steve frowns. “Who?”

“Sonya’s old uncle.” Pietro pops into the room, carrying a huge bowl of nachos and a two-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper. “Wanda and I met him once. It was awkward.”

“He is… was… Emmy’s older brother,” Sonya says, glancing down. “I don’t really know much about him. But he arranged the funeral a-and other things.” She blinks back tears.

“Don’t feel bad,” Pietro says, shoving a nacho under her nose. “Eat. It’ll cheer you up.”

She takes the chip and crunches it sadly. Wanda appears in to doorway and smiles. “I’m glad you’re awake, Sonya.”

Sonya gives her a nod. “Thanks. For everything. But I should really be getting home.”

“That may not be the best idea,” Steve interjects.

“I need to go home!” Sonya insists, her heart beginning to speed up. “I _need_ to.”

Tony takes her hand. “Hey, calm down, alright? Take a breath and explain.”

“I don’t know! I just need to go home!”

“Sonya, we don’t think it’s safe for you right now, understand? We think that there are people trying to hurt you,” Steve adds.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Sonya snaps. “I hadn’t realized!”

“Hey. Chill.” Tony sends a glance at Steve. “Sonya, we’ll let you go home, but can one of us go with you?”

“Oh. Okay…”

* * *

 

During the drive, Tony explains that he wants Sonya to stay at the Tower for a few weeks to make sure the threat is gone.

“What about Leon?”

“We’ll explain everything to him, don’t worry.”

* * *

 

Leon isn’t there when they arrive, so Sonya lets them in and hurries to her bedroom to pack.

Sonya digs a duffle bag out of her closet and begins filling it with her favorite clothes. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Wanda asks.

Sonya points to a large filing crate. “That’s my art stuff. Everything’s in there, so could you bring it out to the car?”

“You need all of this?”

“It’s mostly old sketchbooks I want to keep with me. They’re important. All my supplies are in there, too.”

“Okay.” Wanda lifts the crate with her magic and exits the room. Sonya grabs her favorite blanket, her stuffed elephant and teddy bear, and her pillows and ties them in a bundle. She chucks a few pairs of shoes into her duffel bag, and adds a thick photo album on top. A few knick knacks from her dresser go into a shoe box.

Pietro zips up the stairs carrying several boxes. “Which of your books do you want?”

“All of them.”

He grins, eyeing the bookshelves. “Cool.”

Somehow he loads all 101 books into the boxes and moves them to the car in less than 10 seconds. Sonya shoves her toiletries into her duffel bag and zips it. Pietro takes it from her and zooms away again.

She hands her bundle of bedding to Wanda and her computer bag and knick knacks to Steve and slips into her aunt’s room. It’s quiet in there. Sonya swipes a sweatshirt from the closet and pulls it on. She then wraps Emmy’s jewelry box in a small blanket and shoves the bundle into a backpack, along with her aunt’s computer and cellphone. This last bag, she hands to Tony.

“Take this down for me?” She asks. He nods. “I’m gonna say goodbye.”

“Alright. Don’t take long, though, you aren’t leaving forever.”

Sonya smiles wanly as he trots away. She hears him leave the house and shut the door, and she knows she’s alone. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, pretending that everything’s the same as it was before.

“There’s no use in pretending.” A voice says to her left. Sonya gasps, her eyes flying open.

“Uncle Leon?”

The elderly man steps in the doorway. “Hello, Sonya.”

“I didn’t know you were here.”

“I just arrived.”

“I didn’t hear the front door open at all. I must haven’t been listening.”

“It’s fine. I hear you’re going away to spend an internship at Stark Industries. I didn’t know you were interested in STEM careers.”

“Huh?” Sonya blinks, but then realizes that this was Tony’s way of ‘explaining everything’. “Oh! Yeah. I’m dabbling a bit in the engineering careers before I decide what I want to do.”

“I thought you studied psychology in college.”

“Engineering was my undergrad.”

“Interesting. Well, I hope you feel better. I know you’re struggling with the terms of Emmeline’s death still. It must be hard since…”

Sonya frowns. “What do you mean ‘struggling with the terms of Emmeline’s death’? I haven’t spoken to anyone but the twins about that.”

Her uncle freezes. “No, I’m sure you mentioned it before. Just last night during supper…”

Sonya backs away toward the bathroom door. “We didn’t have dinner together last night. I was reading. I ate alone.”

Leon’s face contorts. “Dammit.” His hand swings out at her and Sonya stumbles as she feels a weight press against her mind.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Her hand scrabbles behind her at the door handle. “Stop it.”

The door swings open and she stumbles back into the bathroom, slamming the door to the bedroom. She turns and braces her back against it, berating herself for hiding in such a stupid place. Leon wrenches the door open, and she stares in horror as the illusion of an elderly man fades away to show a middle aged man with cold eyes. “Who are you?” Sonya asks, her feet automatically bracing against the floor, shoulder-width apart. Emmy had made her take several years of karate. She wasn’t in the best of shape anymore, but she did remember everything. Sonya doesn’t want to fight. “What do you want?! Where’s my uncle?!”

“You don’t have an uncle,” the man replies. “That was merely a guise to get close to you.”

“What do you want? Where are the others?” There’s a muffled ‘whump’ from the floor below and Sonya stiffens as she smells smoke.

“That’s none of y-!” Suddenly, he’s wrenched back out of the doorway and sent flying across the room. Pietro pops his head in.

“That’s a silly place to hide. There’s no way out!” He smirks and grabs Sonya’s hand. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. How…?”

“Tranquilizers. I think.” He rubs his thigh. “Mine fell out when I hit the ground, and stuff like that goes out of my system pretty quickly. I dunno what they put in them, but they must have been strong because Steve was out like a light.” He pulls Sonya into his arms. “C’mon. There were some guys downstairs that didn’t seem too friendly.” They careen down the stairs, Pietro skidding to a stop at the bottom, the two of them staring at the wall of flames before them. He suddenly stumbles, grimacing, and dropping Sonya’s legs. She braces her feet and steadies him, turning to see Leon descending the stairs, hand outstretched.

Sonya doesn’t have time to think, she just reacts, rearing back and kicking Leon in the chest. He pitches back into the flames, eyes alight with fear as he scrabbles for  balance. Pietro grabs Sonya and pulls her behind him, his face grim and his hold tightening as Leon screams in agony. Sonya stiffens as his pain reflects on to her. The speedster scoops her into his arms as she begins to scream herself. They stagger out of the house, Pietro almost drops Sonya, barely having time to lower her to the ground.

“Sonya! Sonya! Are you okay?”

She shudders, curling in on herself, throat raw. She can taste blood at the back of her throat, faintly behind the pain filling her body. Faintly she can hear yelling and sirens. But in her head all she can see is Leon's horrified face, eyes filled with terror, flames wreathing his body. _What have I done?_


	6. New Team

“Miss King, I understand that you have powers that continue to evolve.” Maria Hill is sitting rimrod straight across the table from Sonya, who can't help but feel more than a little intimidated. She knows that it's good for SHIELD to have this information about her, but as someone who doesn't like to talk about herself, she finds it uncomfortable, but answer the question nonetheless.

“Yeah. It's… weird.”

“Hm. Where were you born?”

“Fergus Falls, Minnesota.”

“Date of birth?”

“May Fourth, 1996.”

“Your parents’ names?”

“Jason King and Maria Castaño.”

“And they're occupations?”

“Dad was a physicist. Mom had a degree in Social Work.”

“How did you come to live with your aunt?”

Sonya glances down at her hands, biting her lip, as she tries to gain composure. Agent Hill waits patiently. “Dad… uh… was killed in a lab accident when I was five. Mom died in a car crash when I was nine.” She blurts out the last part in a rush.

Maria refrains from any attempted comfort, just nods and makes a note on her iPad.

“Can you tell me about your education?”

Sonya nods, glad for the distraction. “I’ve been homeschooled my entire life. I started taking college-level courses online after my mom died. I’d already finished school when Emmy took me in.”

“What sort of things did you study?”

“I learned a few languages, and played a lot of instruments. When I was twelve, Emmy let me attended classes at Cornell. I majored in Psychology, with Biomedical Engineering as my undergrad.”

“What were the languages you learned?”

“Uh, Spanish, Japanese, and German.”

“It says here you were diagnosed with Autism when you were six,” Agent Hill says, “can you tell me a little about that?”

“I was diagnosed early because I'm a savant in fine art. I also have synesthesia, so that helped.”

* * *

 

It's well past midnight when Sonya discovers a new aspect of her abilities. She finds herself jerking awake one night, heart racing, shuddering in fear. She just lays there, nearly paralyzed, having no clue why she's so _scared._ She finds herself struggling upright and out of bed. She wants to run until she can't run anymore. She's moving blindly, stumbling down the hall, stopping when she finds herself in front of Pietro’s room. Sonya opens the door slowly.

Pietro has kicked off all his blankets and is lying flat on his back, face screwed up. He's still fast asleep though, muttering softly through clenched teeth. Sonya immediately realizes that he's the reason she's nearly incapacitated by fear, it gets stronger when she touches him, indicating this is connected to her powers. She shakes him gently.

“Pietro! Wake up!”

The speedster jerks away from her touch and rockets across the room in under a millisecond. He presses his back to a corner, chest heaving.

“No, no, no, no, no.” His eyes are clamped shut and his arms are over his head, body language screaming _'don’t hurt me. Please don't hurt me!’_

Sonya's chest clenches at the sight. She eases towards him, sitting down in front of him, murmuring gently. “Hey, hey, Pietro, hey, it's okay. It's just me. It's okay. You're okay.”

“Please don't hurt me,” he begs, eyes still clenched shut. “I'll do better, I promise. Please don't hurt me.”

“No one's gonna hurt you.” Sonya fights the urge to pull him into a hug, knowing that touching him will just send him running. “No one here will hurt you, okay? You're safe, you're free.”

“I'm scared.”

“I know. But you're safe. I promise. Just breathe, okay?”

Sonya takes a breath and let's it out slowly as an example. Pietro slowly moves his arms off his head, but keeps them wrapped around him, peering at her from beneath his bangs.

“Hey,” she whispers, smiling a little. “It's just me. Can I come sit beside you?”

He nods mutely, so she crawls over and leans against the wall next to him.

“You'll calm down faster if you focus on your breathing,” she informs him. “Try it. Four counts in… 1...2...3...4… hold for four, 1...2...3...4, and breathe out for eight. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8…”

Pietro imitates her and Sonya sends up a quiet thank you.

“Good,” she murmurs, “good.”

They breathe together in unison, in silence, focusing on the ticking of Pietro's collectible Roadrunner analog clock, counting down seconds, both wrapped in separate memories.

“I hate that,” Pietro blurts suddenly, slumping forward and burying his face in his hands. “Goddammit, I hate that.” He mumbles softly in Sokovian, the words blurring, switching back to English with a vengeance. “I _hate_ being so _helpless_!”

“I hate it, too,” Sonya replies. “It sucks.” She reaches out and tentatively places her hand on his shoulder. He doesn't flinch away, so she files physical touch as a coping strategy for him. He scoots closer to her as she rubs her hand over his back. “It's the worst.”

“I don't want to feel like that. I don't want to be weak.”

“You aren't weak, Pietro. You aren't.”

“Then why? Why can't I just get rid of these _stupid dreams_!? I just want to be normal!”

“You aren't weak, okay? But you are hurt.” Sonya bites her lip. “It's okay to be hurt. It is okay to be _not_ okay. Just breathe.”

“No one else-!”

“Bullshit.”

“What?”

“Every sane person has problems. And every person in this fucking Tower has enough problems to put anyone 'normal’ to shame. Myself included.”

“How do you know?”

“I'm a psychologist. I know my stuff.”

“Earth's Mightiest Heroes, huh?” He lets out a humorless laugh. “We're a mess.”

“Well, you aren't wrong.”

“Why are you up, anyway?”

“Couldn't sleep.” Sonya doesn't tell him the real reason, she doesn't want to make him feel worse.

* * *

 

To be completely honest, life in the tower is surprisingly peaceful. Wanda and Tony take the time to familiarize Sonya with the emergency procedures, and Pietro just keeps being fun. Steve seems to be out a lot, on missions both personal and official. Sonya is eventually introduced to the official Avengers Facility. Her interview with Agent Hill had been finalized, and Sonya now had a spot in the Avengers Initiative and protection from SHIELD.

A large amount of information had been declassified for her, so Sonya spent time reading up and studying on her new teammates and their pasts. She was also assigned a rigorous training schedule and a good therapist. She was nowhere near the physical abilities of her teammates, but her rudimentary self-defense skills gave her a bit of a boost. The most difficult part of learning to defend herself was learning how to repress her Empathy.

No exercises were designed for that, but Sonya was determined. It took a lot of focus and hard work to finally even _begin_ to filter out distractions and the sensations, but Wanda was helpful in the process, having struggled with similar difficulties in learning to control her own abilities.

Sonya even met the rest of the active Avengers.

“The lineup wouldn't be complete without a doctor on board,” Sam Wilson jokes. The topic of Doctor Banner is still a sore point with the team, Tony and, surprisingly, Agent Romanov, seeming to bear the brunt of it.

For some reason, Sonya finds herself bonding with Tony over that, as the man seems to automatically assign her to position of fellow-genius. He sometimes bounces ideas off her, and even though Sonya isn't all that good with or even really interested, in engineering or machines, she finds her natural curiosity piqued. She's no inventor, but she's darn good at reading instruction manuals, she jokes.

Tony complains she doesn't give herself enough credit.

“See,” she explains one day, handing Tony a screwdriver, “ _this_ the the kind of learning that's actually worth doing.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, I like learning. I like to follow topics that interest me, to learn at my own pace and explore on my own. But I don't fancy being forced to do complicated geometry for the mere purpose of a _grade._ That's not learning, that does more harm than good.”

“Is that the reason you were homeschooled?”

“I was lucky. I wouldn't have had a chance to learn what I needed in a public institution. Since I was homeschooled, I could work at _my_ pace. Which was slow and some things and fast in others. Math took me ages when it was just _concepts_. But when I saw it actually going to work, in a computer program, I could do it.”

“That sounds annoying. You must have been a horror to teach, doc.”

“Theorems are a terrible concept and should be burned.”

“I agree.” Tony chuckles at Sonya's enraged face, before beckoning her over. “Check this out here.”

He then proceeds to give her a crash course in the science of arc reactors.

“...so it's like an internalized radioactive field?”

“Yeah, sort of. The spinning gives it energy.”

“Wouldn't it be safer to use something less… prone to well, radiation?”

“Would that I could.”

“Nuclear fission!”

“Ah, yes, let me go harvest the sun as clean energy. People will like _that_.”

Sonya giggles. “Is better than nuclear _fusion_.”

“Hey, I don't understand what's going on.” Pietro pops into the lab, shooting Tony a glare, “but Sonya, you're supposed to be training with Steve. An hour ago.”

Sonya jumps straight into the the air and books it out of the room. “Oops! Tony, I'd like three books on AI programming and one on nuclear fission! Tell Steve I'm coming!”

“Was that last instruction for me or you?” Tony wonders glancing at Pietro. The speedster shrugs and swipes a chocolate kiss from beside Sonya's seat.

“See you, old man.” He calls before speeding after Sonya.

* * *

 

“What were you guys talking about back there?” Pietro asks, slowing down next to Sonya. “It looked boring.”

“Nuclear fission. And AI programming.”

“Yes,” the speedster rolls his eyes, “the man who created Ultron really is the best person to talk to about creating artificial life. _That's_ smart.”

Sonya frowns. “You need to move past that,” she snaps, her mood souring.

“Okay,” Pietro grins with false cheeriness, “alright! I'll just forget _the fact that I nearly DIED_. That'll be easy!”

The girl beside him slides to a stop. “I didn't mean that.”

“Maybe you should be more specific.”

“Why should you care that I hang out with Tony? We're friends!”

“Friends, huh? Like Stark’s friends always end up alright.”

“Now you're being unreasonable!”

“ _Unreasonable_!? Sonya, that man-!”

“Made a lot of mistakes! Why can't you figure that out!?”

“His _mistakes_ killed dozens no! _Hundreds_ of people! His mistakes killed my parents!”

“He-! N-no! I can’t-!” Sonya splutters angrily, her face turning red. “You can't-!”

“See, everyone gets like this when I bring that up. No one can forgive him when confronted with someone who actually suffered at his hands.”

“Shut up.”

“What?”

“I said, shut up.”

“You can't just-!”

Sonya interrupts him with a stamp of her foot. “ _I said, SHUT UP_ ! I can't believe you really brought the dead parents card into this! Are you seriously willing to go that low? I can't believe this!” She throws up her hands. “I can't. Seriously. Are you completely blind? Or do you just not bother to look past yourself? I can't believe this! Do you have _any_ idea how much _guilt_ Tony suffers from?! Do you have any idea how hard it is to be in the same _room_ as him? How every moment I let my guard down, I'm nearly overwhelmed by it? You have no idea! You're bitter and angry, and Hell, I don't _blame_ you! But to take it out on Tony?! I don't care if it's logical and natural to find someone to blame! You aren't being fair!!!”

“Well, he sure as hell _deserves_ it!”

“NO ONE DESERVES THAT!!!” Sonya screams, turning on her heel and stomping away.


	7. Time Flies When You're Fighting Evil

“Pietro and I aren't on speaking terms,” Sonya tells Wanda when she picks up on the hostility between her best friend and brother. Despite the witch's begging and wheedling, Sonya refuses to give the whole story. She and Pietro barely speak, a once-fast friendship replaced with hostile glares and silence. She knows that maybe she shouldn't have yelled, and that Wanda is suffering as the middleman, and, honestly, Sonya isn't even very stubborn, but now it's more a matter of pride. She feels that Pietro overreacted, and isn't about to let that go. She doesn't want to ignore his pain, but he needed to move on.

She begins to go out on missions, and the fight with Pietro and its repercussions become all too clear to the rest of the team. They snap and grumble at each other, tempers always  at the breaking point. Normally Steve would sit the two of them down and have them talk it out, but he's too wrapped up in his own problems to even notice.

Sonya is only able to pick up bits and pieces about this problem of Steve's. A casual comment from Sam about old friends, Natasha mentioning the phrase 'the Winter Soldier’, Steve mumbling to himself about Bucky and HYDRA… mostly nonsense to the untrained ear. But Sonya throws herself into the mystery. It takes precedence in her life, and she starts to forget about her spat with Pietro. It still hurts, but she's shoved it back. 

She's juggling the complications of hypnotism and brainwashing on the human psyche as well as orchestrating attacks on HYDRA bases.

 

* * *

 

Sonya dodges an attack from one of the henchmen, her hands glowing purple. Her shields press the enemy back. There are far too many of them, and she's completely surrounded. This was supposed to be an easy mission, in and out, destroy some stuff, take people into custody, and scram. That's why Sonya came with, because it was meant to be simple.

Sam yells something to Steve, dive-bombing a group of soldiers. Not far off, Wanda is easily holding her own, red energy flowing around her like a whirlwind.

After images of blue show Pietro’s path, and a blur of black indicates Natasha, while Vision makes his presence known with flashes of gold.

Sonya notices she is surrounded, and ducks and rolls, her shields acting as a battering ram. A streak of blue to her left solidifies into Pietro, who skids to a stop beside her. “You should not be here,” he states, “we've mostly defeated them. You should hide in the quinjet.”

“That platoon of tanks does not seem 'mostly defeated’, Pietro,” Sonya huffs, pointing. The speedster turns to assess the oncoming force, and she wonders why he even cares what she's up to.

“All the more reason you should leave! This is getting too dangerous.”

“The job isn't done. Besides, I've been training for a year. I'm not helpless.”

“You aren't ready for this! You don't have the ability to fight a tank!”

“No, I don't. And I'm not gonna.” Sonya taps at her wristwatch and Pietro watches with mild  fascination as it transforms into a gauntlet with a mini repulser. A tap to the medical alert bracelet on her other wrist gleans the same results. “Look, I have some tricks up my sleeve, okay? I won't fight any tanks, look, Rhodey and Sam are already taking them out. There are other people to fight.”

Sonya doesn't wait for Pietro’s reply, just steps forward to intercept the first attacker, repulsors sparking threateningly. She meets the first henchman head on with a punch to the jaw, yanking the gun out of his hands and tossing it away. Pietro sighs and moves to back her up. 

“How much Stark Tech to you have on hand?” Natasha asks, laughing as Sonya blasts an armored soldier away with her repulsors. 

“More than enough, actually,” Sonya replies, “we tried to make a lightsaber, but it just shoots off into infinity.” 

“Pay attention!” Pietro reprimands her, running up. He looks exhausted. “Cap! I cleared the actual base!” He calls, earning a nod from the man in question.

“Good job, we need to finish up here and then we'll be done.” Steve flips his shield up to his arm and turns to the oncoming attackers. “Let's get this over with.”

But far more troops are coming. Where from, they have no clue, but numbers seem to have doubled. Sonya finds herself in a tight spot,completely cut off from her friends, enemies on every side. She wants to call for help, but knows that the others are busy. She should have. Sonya’s concentration falters and her shields weaken, and pain explodes in her shoulder. She cries out and jerks back from the attacker, the knife tears deeper into her flesh. She wants to grab at the wound, but her other hand is still outstretched, maintaining her weakening barrier. But it hurts so much. She half-wishes she could go into shock, wishes that the sight of blood made her faint, something, anything to stop the pain. Another attacker comes toward her and she lifts her bad arm and blasts him in the chest. He stumbles, but keeps moving. Sonya's shield falters as she wards off the man's attack, and she earns a cut to her cheek before beating him back. Her bad arm is clutched to her chest and she knows she should do something about the bleeding. She's out of weapons, her repulsor having been damaged. Her hand drifts to the knife and she doesn't have time to think before she yanks it out of her shoulder and uses it to block a strike. Her heels hit a loose edge and she stumbles back, attacker raising his arm for the final blow…

But he's bowled out of the way by a flash of blue. Pietro pulls Sonya out of harm's way, and she realizes only a few minutes have passed. 

The speedster swears in Sokovian, his hand clamping over her wound. “Should have made you stay.” He mumbles, before scooping her up and booking it towards the quinjet.

“But the others…” Sonya says, biting back a cry of pain when Pietro drops her on her feet.

“They'll be fine,” he snaps, “Cap told me to get you out of here, stay with you.” He unearths the emergency first aid kit. “You are lucky. It didn't hit the artery.” He says, meaning her wound. He presses a gauze pad to her shoulder and instructs her to hold it there as he preps bandages. “Get the shirt out of the way.” 

“Are you authorized to do this?” Sonya asks as the speedster turns back to her. She’s still struggling with her shirt, trying to keep the gauze over the bleeding. “And why do you even care?”

Pietro frowns, then pulls out scissors and cuts away the sleeve of her shirt. “Of course I am authorized. We all have medical training. Sam is best, but I was the only one they could spare.”

“I liked this shirt,” Sonya pouts as she tosses it away, leaving her with only a sports bra on top.

“You can get another,” he tells her as he bandages her arm with unsettling speed. He pauses and leans back to look at his handiwork. “Good. I'm glad it wasn't any worse.”

Sonya bites her lip. “H-hey… uhm… I-I’m sorry. About our argument. I'm sorry,” she blurts, “I was insensitive. You have every right to grieve and be angry and I shouldn't butt in.”

“No, no, Sonya,” Pietro shrugs. “No, I was my fault, too. I was angry with you for spending so much time with Tony. I overreacted, I have no say in who you spend time with. I just get nervous around him, nervous that he'll hurt someone. I guess his inventions did help you today.”

“Tony's not that bad, but I understand your caution. Will you forgive me?”

Pietro seems a little taken aback by this choice of words, but nods in agreement. “Yeah. Are you cold?”

Sonya nods, so he snatches his jacket from his seat and tosses it to her. She winces as it brushes the cut on her cheek.

“Oh,” Pietro frowns, finally looking her in the face and noticing the cut. “I didn't even notice. Sorry.”

He digs for a band-aid as Sonya slides her good arm, the right one, into the sleeve of the windbreaker and does the same with the other, though much more carefully. The speedster rubs some antibacterial ointment on her cheek and places down the band-aid. “There we go,” he says, smoothing it down with his thumb. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Sonya shakes her head, rather encouraged at how quickly things have gone back to normal between them. “I'm good. Just a few bruises. Although,” she holds up her wrists. “My gauntlets are smashed. Sharp bits keep poking me. Could you help me get them off?”

“When Steve sent Pietro to fix Sonya up, this was  _ not _ what I was expecting,” Natasha teases as the others arrive back at the quinjet. “Don't tell me that you two are far enough along for Sonya to be shirtless.”

The younger woman blushes and tugs Pietro’s jacket closer around herself. The speedster just scoffs and rolls his eyes.

They return to the Compound to find an agitated Tony and a disgruntled Nick Fury.

The ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. Director greets the team tersely, turning his attention on Sonya and the Twins.

“Doctor King,” he says, “how long until that injury is healed and you're combat ready?”

Sonya shrugs, wincing a little at the movement, watching as a nurse powers up Doctor Cho’s healing machine. 

“Well, not long. Probably a couple hours. Why?”

“Because I have a mission for you three.”

* * *

“I can't see why sending Sonya and the twins is a good idea,” Cap insists, glancing towards the kids. “I mean, Sonya’s barely combat approved, and the Twins are still technically illegal aliens. What kind of job  _ needs _ those particular three?”

“Captain Rogers,” Fury says, adjusting his sunglasses, “I understand your concern, but it is safest to send Sonya and the Twins. I'll let you in on the little secret at the mission debriefing.”

“Heard something about debriefing?” Pietro pops his head in the doorway, grinning. “Wanda and Sonya are coming.”

“We are here, actually,” his sister replies, entering with Sonya on her heels.

“How're you feeling, Sonya?” Cap inquires, frowning at her drawn face.

“Ship-shape, Steve,” she chirps through a mouthful of one of Tony's terrifying smoothie concoctions. “But this tastes like grass.”

“What is the mission, sir?” Wanda glances towards Fury, taking a seat at the table. “And why do you need us in particular?”

“I chose you three for this mission for several reasons, namely, you are fairly unknown by the public, you are powerful, and you work well as a team. And we needed a Psychologist.”

“Well, you have one,” Pietro grins, nudging Sonya. “Who’s asking for us?”

Fury turns to look at him. “S.H.I.E.L.D.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus begins the main story...


End file.
